Mr Pat Hoy (Chatham-Kent
Essex): The Harris government has starved funding, in my community
and across Ontario, for vital services to Ontario's most vulnerable citizens:
the sick, elderly, disabled, developmentally challenged, and the vulnerable
children in our foster homes. For months we have pleaded with the government
to increase funding for home care, children's aid societies and residential
services such as those available at the Southwestern Regional Centre.

This government must
adequately fund community care access centres. Their role in maintaining
health and preventing illness makes home care services an essential part
of a cost-effective health system. This government's cuts are putting
our most vulnerable citizens at risk.

Last Friday I went
on a guided tour with members of the Chatham and District Association
for Community Living. In a wheelchair, I experienced first hand some of
the challenges faced by 1.5 million disabled Ontario residents, things
we take for granted but which limit the disabled from full access to their
community. Ontario must have a strong Ontarians with Disabilities Act
and the funding necessary to eliminate the barriers faced by our disabled
community.